Lately I’ve been very much engaged reading Antistoria degli Italiani, a mammoth of a book written by Italian intellectual Giordano Bruno Guerri. Taking a rather hermeneutic approach, Guerri tries to understand the character of the Italians by going through their history to trace how certain dominant characteristics were formed. In a nutshell, according to Guerri, foreign domination and the Church played the most significant role in shaping the Italians into who they are, how they view the world and the values they hold sacred. Reading through I couldn’t help but notice the similarities to us Maltese. Which is perfectly understandable. With the Italians, especially those from the South, we share a large portion of history. Like them, foreign domination and the predominance of the Catholic Church in all spheres of life – from the public to the most intimate – have had a determining influence in shaping our character. Guerri considers that Italians are intrinsically individualistic. Even the Renaissance, perhaps Italy’s cultural apogee, was but a celebration of that individualism. “A nation of poets, of artists, of heroes, of saints, of thinkers, of scientists, of navigators, of...
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